How ASEAN Can Ride Out the Trump 2.0 Challenge

Recent senate hearings to confirm Donald Trump's cabinet picks brought into sharp contrast the candidate for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

- SHANKARI SUNDARARAMAN

Tammy Duckworth, a senator from Illinois, took apart Hegseth for not being able to identify any ASEAN member state, or the importance of even one of the members and the nature of ties they had with the US.

Hegseth's response to the question focused on Japan, South Korea and Australia, which are traditional military allies of the US. Leaving out the ASEAN and the Pacific Island states reflected a minimalist understanding of what the region represents.

In what seemed to be a damage control exercise, secretary of state Marco Rubio, during his interaction with Duckworth, was able to reassert the diplomatic importance of the ASEAN and responded with clarity on how the bloc remains critical to any understanding of regional stability in the Indo-Pacific.

From these two hearings, indications of a see-sawing effect seem visible. We will focus on three major areas. First, how the role of Indonesia in the wider context of the ASEAN and Indo-Pacific would be critical, especially as it tries to find a balance between the US-China rivalry in the region. Second, the role of Malaysia, which will be important as the current chair of ASEAN. Third, how different layers of multilateralism will have to coexist in the wider Indo-Pacific, with the Quad and ASEAN having to balance their individual roles.